Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Controversial former Metro Airport CEO Turkia Awada Mullin won’t get the additional $113,000 she was seeking from her breach of contract lawsuit, a judge ruled Friday.

Mullin’s attorney, Raymond Sterling, had asked Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr. to award Mullin that money on top of the $712,000 she was awarded in April from an arbitrator. Colombo declined.

The ruling closes that legal fight between Mullin and the airport, but her attorney has hinted her legal battles with the airport and Wayne County may not be over. Had she received the additional money, it would have come from the airport, which is funded through fees paid by airport users.

Sterling had argued arbitrator Paul Teranes understated attorney fees and other items in his April decision.

Airport lawyers argued the request was “substantially deficient” and said if the arbitrator’s award was going to be reopened, the entire ruling would have to be reconsidered.

“As we pointed out in our filing, we respected the fact that the arbitration is binding,” airport spokesman Michael Conway said Friday. “We were pleased with the judge’s decision to not reopen the arbitration and award her this additional revenue.”

Sterling didn’t get the additional attorney fees he was seeking, but said he liked parts of Colombo’s decision.

“We are gratified that the judge gave the judicial stamp of approval by confirming the arbitration award,” Sterling said Friday. “The airport created this mess by breaching its contract and now has to pay the consequences. This all could have been avoided if the airport board had merely done its job.”

Mullin’s tenure at the airport lasted less than two months, but repercussions still are being felt. She was once considered a rising star in the administration of Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, where she served as director of economic development.

In 2011, Mullin was hired to be CEO of Metro Airport and given a three-year contract paying $250,000 per year. But after word of her $200,000 severance payment from the county broke, she became a lightning rod of controversy, and the airport authority fired her just two months into her tenure.

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In addition to suing the airport, Mullin sought pension and lifetime health care benefits from the county.

In November, the Wayne County Employee Retirement System informed Mullin that she didn’t qualify for a pension because she didn’t have enough years of service. To qualify, Mullin had sought credit for eight years of military service, but an investigation showed she served less than two years of active duty, with the rest coming in the reserves.

Earlier this month, Wayne County Circuit Judge Maria Oxholm ruled Mullin wouldn’t receive lifetime medical benefits given to some appointees who worked just eight years for the county. A review showed that she worked seven years, 11 months and 26 days, just short of the eight-year threshold.

Mullin had argued her two-month tenure at the county-owned airport put her over the eight-year limit, but Oxholm rejected that argument, noting the airport is now run by a separate authority.

In April, buoyed by the arbitrator’s $712,000 ruling, Mullin’s attorney hinted that she may try to recover the $200,000 severance payout she voluntarily returned to Wayne County amid the controversy. To date, no lawsuits have been filed seeking that money.